Yingling & Cessna

Jan. 18, 2008
Cessna signed up its very first dealership—Yingling Aviation in Wichita—60 years ago. Now Yingling and Cessna are working with each other in a new arena for both. Yingling has announced that the company will be one of three domestic Cessna reassembly sites for the Cessna’s LSA, the SkyCatcher. What is a "reassembly" site? Oddly, the press release didn’t define the term. Back in the day, however, when Piper built airplanes for export at least some of them were built in Vero Beach, then disassembled for packing in crates. Upon reaching the destination country, they would be reassembled. With Cessna I suppose the situation will be reversed—the SkyCatchers will be built and disassembled in China, then reassembled by Yingling and others. Very interesting. Here is another example of the fact that building the SkyCatcher in China will also create jobs in this country. Yingling is building new facilities for this job, so construction companies, building supply companies, and others in Wichita will profit. And what a building it will be. Windows will allow the viewing of the entire assembly line. Also, cameras will be set up and operating along the line. If you order a Cessna SkyCatcher, you will be able to view on the web the entire reassembly process 24/7. As an old aircraft salesman, I can tell you that this will be a big deal to buyers. Let the good times roll. We’d love to post your comments. Please click the comment tab at the top.